If you use waterbrushes, here is another tip from a seasoned journaler-on-the-go – cut the cuffs of old socks before you throw them away, slip one on your wrist and use it to clean your brush instead of carrying paper towels around with you which have a nasty habit of blowing away at the slightest gust of wind. An old tennis wristband would also work well.
If you want to pick up some excellent skills on watercolour journaling then head on over to Laure’s other website Imaginary Trips and check out her online classes.
I LOVE using PanPastels for my journal backgrounds – sometimes it is great not to have to wait for paint to dry… I especially love the soft subtle blending that can be achieved, and the wonderful tactile feel of the pages. I have been using them in my gratitude journal, and thought I would share some pre-prepared background pages -
The page bottom left (above) was created by applying Phthalo Blue and Hansa Yellow Shade and blending them where they meet. The flowers were created by stamping with Versamark, and then dusting very lightly over the stamping with Chromium Oxide Green for the stems/leaves and Red Iron Oxide shade for the flowers.
The page top right was created by blending Yellow Ochre and Permanent Red and then erasing the swirls with a pencil eraser (Pan Pastels erase very easily). The page bottom right was created by laying down a base coat of Yellow Ochre, and then dusting Red Iron Oxide shade over a Tim Holtz mask.
For most pages, simply rubbing well with a paper towel after applying the Pastel is enough to ‘fix’ the pages, however when applying over a mask or through a stencil, it may be necessary to use a fixative spray, although I haven’t done that yet with this page and it is holding up pretty well.
I also find that PanPastel can be easily used on smooth paper – usually soft pastel requires a paper with some ‘tooth’, but it is easy to get smooth ‘washes’ of colour on very smooth paper with this product as it is so low in dust and has an almost creamy consistency.
Over at Artella they are having a 50% off sale at their Vintage shop until November 30th.
Click on the image below to visit the Artella site to find out more
“The final day we’ll accept vintage orders in 2009 is November 30. Our new vintage store won’t be open until Spring of 2010, so if there are any vintage goods that interest you, now is the time to get them at 50% off…AND enjoy all the inspiring ARTSgiving bonuses below!
In addition to getting EVERY vintage item in Artella Mae’s Vintage General Store at 50% off, with each purchase, you also receive a Gift eCertificate good on ALL Artella eProducts:
Plus! EVERY purchase over $15 receives the fun ARTsgiving 2009 Holiday eBasket, including these fun, inspiring goodies:
The NEW Artella eBook, “Artella’s Step-by-Step Vintage Holiday Cards”
Our fun and useful eBooklet on making “10 Christmas Crafts in 10 Minutes”
Our beautiful collection of downloadable “Christmas Carol Background Papers”
Download a FREE copy of the Artella eBook, Stunning and Simple Seasonal Salutations, an eBook featuring 10 beautiful handmade cards, complete with photos and descriptive “how-to” instructions, showcasing a variety of techniques such as rubber stamping, collage, and innovative paper and mixed media arts which will also be useful inspiration for your Christmas journaling.
Head on over to d’Blogga the site of Dawn deVries Sokol for NaNoJouMo – National Nonstop Journaling Month.
“I was just contemplating my own version of NaNoWriMo. (For those of you unfamiliar with this term, NaNoWriMo is held during the month of November, encouraging writers everywhere to write a 175-page novel by midnight, Nov. 30.) …. .. but I’m also starting NaNoJouMo, an idea borne out of a Twitter conversation between myself and Pam McClung and brought to fruition here…It stands for National Nonstop Journaling Month!
Each day during November, I will post a word to get you art journaling. A journal jump of sorts—one word a day to inspire or get you thinking. The goal is to journal SOMETHING in your art journal. DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A FULL PAGE…can be a doodle, maybe painting some backgrounds, doing some collage…just SOMETHING every day in your art journal during November. Even if it’s just moving a pencil across the page in a crooked line…”
Dawn is the author of 1,000 Artist Journal Pages: Personal Pages and Inspirations, and will be providing a journal prompt a day during November – entries are being posted in a NaNoJoMo Flickr group
Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin recently posted these 7 Creativity Boosters on Ezinearticles.com -
For creative people like us, a sure way to greater happiness is to allow ourselves to become as creative as we can be. But that’s often easier said than done. Here are 7 practical and usable ways to increase your creativity and make yourself happy, starting today: (more…)
For those of you who were disappointed when the premier edition of Art Journaling magazine sold out, there is some good news - it is now available as a digital download here for just US$9.99
Trish Bee has put together some wonderful prompts for your art journal inspired by the alphabet. For each letter you will find ideas for Themes, Colours, Art Products and Techniques – take a look at the examples for A -
Theme Ideas: Altered, Assemblage, Abstract, Alphabet, All About Me, Africa, Ancient History/Civilisations, Animals, Angels, Around The World, Art, Art Nouveau, Asia, Autumn, Antique, Aircraft, Anatomy, Aquatic, Apostles, Artemis.
Colours: Aquamarine, Amethyst, Aubergine, Air Force blue, Alabaster, Alice Blue, Alizarin, Almond, Amaranth, Amarillo, Amber, Anaranjado, Antique White, Apple Green, Apricot, Aqua, Aquamarine, Army Green, Ash, Asparagus, Atomic Tangerine, Auburn, Azul, Azure
Art Products and Brandnames: Angelina Fibres, Adirondack, Acrylic Wax, Alcohol Inks, Acrylic Paints, Acetate, Archival ink, Adhesives, Air-dry clay, Acetone
A great way to create an interesting background for your journal pages is to add colour. However if use a wet medium such as watercolour or acrylic your pages may warp, unless you have good thick paper in your journal. Another option is to use soft pastels. The new PanPastels are ideal for this as they are soft and creamy and produce very little dust. You can create very soft blended effects – this example uses Yellow Ochre, Turquoise Shade and Hansa Yellow Shade, and was then lightly overstamped with Colorbox Chalk inks -
Download a FREE copy of the Artella eBook, Stunning and Simple Seasonal Salutations, an eBook featuring 10 beautiful handmade cards, complete with photos and descriptive “how-to” instructions, showcasing a variety of techniques such as rubber stamping, collage, and innovative paper and mixed media arts which will also be useful inspiration for your Christmas journaling.
